The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to unblock its ban on transgender troops in the military as litigation continues in lower courts.
The Trump administration argued in its filing that stalling the policy could hinder U.S. military readiness, and asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court’s ruling halting the ban, Fox News reported. Justices asked plaintiffs in the case to file a response by next week, “indicating that they could move quickly on the issue.”
“Absent a stay, the district court’s universal injunction will remain in place for the duration of further review in the Ninth Circuit and in this Court — a period far too long for the military to be forced to maintain a policy that it has determined, in its professional judgment, to be contrary to military readiness and the Nation’s interests,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the filing.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 27, 2025, prohibiting transgender troops from enlisting or serving in the military.
The executive order noted that longstanding DOD policy ensures that service members be “[f]ree of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization.”
It added:
Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service. Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.
Among its provisions, the executive order also explicitly banned males from using or sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for females, and vice versa.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently issued a directive on February 7, 2025, pausing the accession of individuals with a history of gender dysphoria as well as pausing all unscheduled, scheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for service members.
A follow-up DOD memo on February 26, 2025, gave the military services 30 days to begin separation of troops who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria and who are not granted a waiver.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking the Trump administration from removing transgender troops from the military while the case is litigated. The Trump administration subsequently appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which declined to issue a stay of the lower court’s order.
The Trump administration said it believes its transgender military policy “furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs.”
“The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness Executive Order, and will continue to do so,” a Justice Department official previously told Fox News Digital.
The Trump administration’s transgender troops policy is facing multiple legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C.
“In a separate case, Washington, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes also issued a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s ban while that litigation proceeds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has placed that injunction temporarily on hold,” Reuters reported.
A defense official said as of December 9, 2024, there were about 4,200 service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria — out of about two million active-duty and reserve forces,” Breitbart News previously reported.
Between January 1, 2016, and May 14, 2021, DOD spent approximately $15 million to provide gender-affirming care (surgical and nonsurgical) to 1,892 active duty service members, according to Military.com.
However, a February 26, 2025, Pentagon memo said a review of cost data by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs indicated that, between 2015 and 2024, DoD spent $52 million providing care to active duty Service members to treat gender dysphoria, including: $15,233,158 for psychotherapy; $3,135,593 for hormone therapy; and $14,324,739 for surgical care.
